Corporate social responsibility and bank risk profile: evidence from Europe

This study analyzes the impact of risk profile on sustainability reporting and its quality in European banks. Financial institutions (FI) play a social role in the financial inclusion process and incorporate environmental considerations into credit risk assessment, making corporate social responsibility (CSR)-related issues vital for risk management systems. FI with lower capital risk, higher liquidity risk, higher profitability in banking, and higher sensitivity to market risk tend to issue CSR reports. The findings suggest that FI with lower profitability in banking disclose higher quality CSR financial services sector (FSS)-specific information, whereas FI not submitting CSR reports for external assurance or having their CSR reports assured by certain auditors issue lower quality CSR/FSS-specific information.     

Lending Relationships,Bank Default and Economic Activity

The paper reviews contributions in the literature, which lend theoretical and empirical credibility to the idea that the banking relationship is valuable and important for the firm. Banks offer a lending relationship as the solution to the firm's ongoing credit needs. Bank default disrupts this relationship. Hence risk in the banking sector influences the value of the relationship, the cost of corporate finance, and the level and growth of real activity. As bank default is often the result of fraud and internal irregularities, it is hard to predict. Bank default affects the economy through a number of different channels. The loss of the relationship, benefit for the firm is an important route through which the health of the banking sector influences real activity.     

Sovereign defaults and liquidity crises

Sovereign debt crises in emerging markets are usually associated with liquidity and banking crises. The conventional view is that the domestic turmoil is the consequence of foreign retaliation, although there is no clear empirical evidence on “classic” default penalties. This paper emphasizes, instead, a direct link between sovereign defaults and liquidity crises building on two natural assumptions: (i) government bonds represent a source of liquidity for the domestic private sector and (ii) the government cannot discriminate between domestic and foreign creditors in the event of default. In this context, external debt emerges even in the absence of classic penalties, and government default is countercyclical, triggers a liquidity crunch, and amplifies output volatility. In addition, a reform that involves a substitution of government bonds with privately-sourced liquidity instruments could backfire by restricting governments' access to foreign credit.     

The impact of capital requirements on banks’ cost of intermediation and performance: The case of Egypt

In 1991, the Central Bank of Egypt increased the minimum capital requirements for the banking industry vis-à-vis risk-weighted assets to 8%, along the lines proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. In this paper, we investigate the effects of capital regulations on cost of intermediation and profitability. Higher capital adequacy increases the interest of shareholders in managing banks’ portfolios. The result is a higher cost of intermediation and profitability. A number of factors have increased the cost of intermediation in the post-capital regulation period: higher capital-to-assets ratios, an increase in management efficiency, an improvement of liquidity and a reduction in inflation. The reduction in output growth countered these effects. A number of factors contributed positively to banks’ profitability in the post-regulation period: higher capital requirements, the reduction in implicit cost, and the increase in management efficiency. The reduction in economic activity had opposite effects on banks’ profitability. Overall, the results support the Central Bank's efforts to enforce capital regulations to improve the performance of the banking sector in Egypt.     

金融危机应对政策的有效性:基于40起事件的实证研究

本文以20世纪80年代以来世界范围内40次重要的系统性银行危机为基础,对金融危机后常见的15种应对措施进行了系统的实证评价.结果表明,系统性银行危机发生后,大规模政府干预、流动性支持(紧急贷款)、重新资本化、银行关闭和兼并是使用频率最高的5项措施,但大规模政府干预和流动性支持往往伴随着较高的财政成本,而重新资本化和兼并则分别伴随着危机持续时间的延长和产出损失的上升.一揽子担保计划虽有助于提高危机期间的经济增长率,但危机后的经济增长却相对较低.国有化措施不仅会产生较高的财政成本,通常还伴随着较高的产出损失.存款人承担损失和IMF援助这两种措施有助于缩短危机持续时间,但IMF援助通常伴随着较高的财政成本和危机期间较低的经济增长率.     

Financial liberalization,prudential supervision,and the onset of banking crises

We examine what is perceived as one of the main culprits in the occurrence of banking crises: financial liberalization. As is typically argued, if liberalization is accompanied by insufficient prudential supervision of the banking sector, it will result in excessive risk taking by financial intermediaries and a subsequent crisis. Having evaluated the empirical validity of this hypothesis, we conclude that such a development is, at worse, only a medium run threat to the health of the banking sector. We find that a more immediate danger is the loss of monopoly power that liberalization typically entails. We base our conclusions on an empirical investigation of a panel-probit model of the occurrence of banking crises using macro-economic, institutional and political data.     

Bank Performance and Credit Availability in the Bulgarian Banking Sector, 1997-2001

Abstract

The 1997 financial crisis wiped out 30% of the Bulgarian banking sector and created severe strains on corporations. With the establishment of the currency board in 1997 and the new Banking Law, which set the legal framework for proper bank supervision, major Bulgarian banks were rapidly privatized through sales to foreigners, now controlling around 80% of bank assets. Since 1997, the Bulgarian banking sector has recovered from the crisis by improving its profitability and efficiency and adopted a legal framework compatible with the European Union standards. Based on a regression analysis of bank balance sheets and income statements, this paper shows that low level of credit volume during 1997-1999 derived from banks' cautious stance towards credit making reflecting both the ongoing risks in the real sector, and the stringent new banking regulations. Large banks, however, benefited from scale economies in improving profitability in the same period.     

Public Credit Guarantee Schemes and SMEs’ Profitability: Evidence from Italy

The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the Italian State Credit Guarantee Scheme (Central Guarantee Fund). The paper analyzes the impact of the program on SMEs’ profitability considering the firm size and sector. The analysis is performed using propensity‐score matching estimators and the Difference in Differences regressions on a proprietary sample of about 38,000 SMEs in the period 2007–2009. Overall, the Central Guarantee Fund generated an increase in the profitability of guaranteed firms during the period of economic downturn. However, significant differences emerged across firms by size and sector. The effect is positive and robust only for micro‐ and small‐sized firms, and the most relevant improvement in the profitability is recorded for firms operating in the manufacturing sector. This implies that more customized programs are necessary to reach a higher value for money in entrepreneurial policies.     

Exploring manager’s perspective of service quality strategies in Malaysian Banking Industry

In service industry, the subject of service quality remains crucial as business strive to maintain a comparative advantage in the marketplace. In aftermath of globalization, the operating environment for banking industry has become more dynamic and competitive. Banks have evolved to become diversified financial providers instead of traditional banking-only service providers. With bank placing emphasis on a mutually beneficial bank–customer relationship, customer loyalty must be pursued through repeat purchases. Central to achieving this is often the quality of services offered by the bank should satisfy the customer’s needs. This article attempts to identify any service gaps in Malaysian banking industry and to recommend effective strategies to close these service gaps from bank mangers’ and executives perspectives based on GAPs Model of Service Quality (GAPs Model). Using qualitative data collected from interviews with 30 bank managers and executives, this article provides effectives strategies to close each of the gaps in GAPs Model. It is hoped that the empirical evidences and recommendations provided in this article shed some light to management of banks to improve upon their customer service quality in order to benefit from customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and other behavioural outcomes which will lead to greater competitive advantage and profitability to the banks concerned.     

中国银行业实施巴塞尔Ⅲ：进展与趋势

巴塞尔Ⅲ以资本要求、监管检查、市场约束为三大支柱,主要侧重第一支柱的改革,在重视资本监管的同时,将流动性风险提升到信用风险同等重要的高度;在第二支柱和第三支柱上也有所调整,引入了宏观审慎监管,将其与微观监管手段相结合。中国银行监管当局明确了宏观审慎与微观审慎兼顾、资本监管和流动性监管并重、资本数量和质量同步提高的改革方向,并提出同步推进实施巴塞尔Ⅱ和巴塞尔Ⅲ。2008年金融危机之后,中国宏观经济基本面复苏强劲,为中国银行业顺利推行巴塞尔Ⅲ创造了良好的外部环境,中国银行业在危机中的损失较小、其自身各项经济指标相对稳健也为推行巴塞尔Ⅲ创立了有利的先决条件,但是当前监管工具和银行自身存在的诸多问题仍会影响巴塞尔Ⅲ实施的进程和效果。     

Lessons from the global financial crisis

Our system of banking is fragile. Banks that appear to be well-capitalised one day are not the next. Banks that borrow short and lend long are subject to runs that threaten the payments system. The current regulation of financial services is damaging and unsustainable. Regulators must decide on the appropriate amount of equity capital, but it is almost impossible to define an “optimal” capital ratio. A resolution mechanism for banks is unlikely to be a solution to a system-wide loss of confidence. We need to design a credible ex ante framework for liquidity provision. My proposal would require banks to pre-position collateral, making the central bank a pawnbroker for all seasons. On regulation, we need simple robust principles to guide us, not tens of thousands of pages of detailed rules.     

Determinants of Mobile Banking Users’ Loyalty

Abstract

In recent years, the banking sector has undergone major changes in the way it serves its customers. Banks have found that customer loyalty is fundamental to strengthening their strategies. The objective of this paper is to identify the variables that have the greatest influence on the loyalty of mobile banking users. A structural equation model of the relationships between the studied variables was developed. The main results indicate that the variables with the greatest influence on mobile banking users’ loyalty are satisfaction, use, and trust. Several conclusions, managerial implications, and possibilities for future studies emerge from these results.     

Chinese banking reforms in perspective: towards global alignment or national specificity?

The reforms of the banking sector in China conducted so far have been seeking to accomplish, simultaneously, two conflicting goals. On the one hand, the objective was to prepare Chinese banks for international competition and put them at the pace with the transformations observed in its overall economy. On the other, there is a social-driven agenda concerning employment and regional inequalities. Using principal component analysis, this article explores the impact of the ongoing reforms in the Chinese banking sector on the performance of individual banks. The results show that despite identical regulation, business practices can be dissimilar at the individual level. Taken collectively, the results also show the increasing influence of Western management standards in the Chinese banking sector.     

Do trend following strategies work in Chinese futures markets?

We examine the performance of trend following strategies in Chinese commodity futures markets. We provide evidence that trend following‐based technical trading rules yield better performance than the buy and hold strategy on both individual contracts and sorted portfolios. The outperformance is robust to transaction costs, data frequency, sub‐prime crisis, shorting constraint, delayed execution, liquidity and parameters. Finally, the profitability of the trend following strategy may be subject to data snooping bias.     

中美银行业盈利能力比较分析

选取ROA(资产收益率)作为衡量中美银行业盈利能力的最终指标,本文将ROA分解为多项中间指标,分别从收入和支出方面分析中美银行业盈利能力的差异及原因。研究结果显示:与美国银行业相比,中国银行业在利息支出、营业支出和所得税方面有一定的优势,但在利息收入、非利息收入方面劣势明显,最终导致中国银行业的盈利能力低于美国银行业。中国银行业应在现有低成本的优势下居安思危,学习美国盈利能力高的银行先进的资产负债管理技术,提高利息和非利息收入占总资产的比重,努力缩小和美国盈利能力较高银行业之间的差距。     

商业银行偿付能力风险、流动性风险与银行体系风险

宏观审慎监管需要微观基础.研究商业银行偿付能力风险与流动性风险和银行体系风险的关系,有助于监管当局制定合适的监管工具,有效管理银行业的系统性风险.中国未曾爆发过真正意义的银行业危机,因而研究影响银行业系统性风险的因素成为难题.在借鉴风险二维定义属性基础上,本文对商业银行偿付能力风险和流动性风险如何影响银行业稳定进行了实证分析.分析结果表明,当商业银行偿付能力上升时,银行风险承担会上升,进而增加银行倒闭的预期损失;商业银行流动性风险的上升也会增加银行倒闭的预期损失;商业银行偿付能力提高时,流动性风险会降低;商业银行流动性风险上升时,偿付能力风险也上升.     

论国有商业银行的双重功能与不良资产的双重成因

国有商业银行所形成的巨额不良资产，需要从其事实上履行的双重功能入手进行解析：国有商业银行在履行基本功能时，由于行业性风险产生的不良资产具有普遍性和内生性；但其在履行公共性功能时。由于承担的政策性风险和支付的履职成本无法分摊导致的超额不良资产，具有特殊性和外生性。因此。降低国有商业银行的不良资产，既要控制行业性风险，更要建立对其履行特殊功能所支付成本的合理分摊机制，并随着市场机制作用的增强从体制上逐步淡化其特殊功能，从根本上解决由外生性原因造成的超额不良资产。     

A qualitative and longitudinal analysis of market orientation

This work analyzes the dynamic effect of market orientation (MO) on organizational performance, both in the long term and in the short term. The performance was measured by the sales growth and profitability. The methodology used is innovative as it quantifies the MO with a qualitative technique: content analysis. Data from the Spanish banking sector between 2005 and 2007 are the basis of a longitudinal study. The results indicate that the banks that develop an MO approach maintain this approach over time. On the other hand, MO does not seem to have a direct effect on profitability, but does affect the long-term sales growth.     

Der deutsche Bankensektor

Although Germany’s banking sector has experienced a wave of consolidation, especially since the financial crisis, the country is still home to a high number of banking institutions. When domestic economic activity was sluggish in the mid-2000s, German banks searched for sources of income abroad; some of them have massively invested in structured products. As a consequence, the financial crisis of 2007–2009 has hit German banks harder than those from other eurozone countries. The European Commission has played a key role in restructuring the sector, asking in particular that banks which have received state aid strongly reduce their balance sheets — and ordering the liquidation of one of them. Since 2010 the German banking sector has returned to the profit zone and appears more robust thanks to an increase of equity and a reduction of balance sheets. The leverage ratio remains nevertheless significant, profitability remains low in a context of strong competition on the domestic market, and some banks find themselves deeply affected by the crisis of the shipping sector.     

The determinant of customer profitability on the financial institution

This paper aims to examine the influences of personal attributes of salaried customers, product transaction strategies, and sales personnel as three dimensions on the profitability contributed by customers in the wealth management business of the banking industry. The multiple regression analysis is performed for an empirical test. The results show that four variables, i.e. the quantity of the products held, purchasing frequency of investment products, level of financial advisers, and degree of customers' satisfaction have significantly positive influences on the profitability contributed by customers. This paper provides a reference for the financial industry to formulate the management strategies targeting at the optimal customers in wealth management.